Ahearn, John (Francis) (b. April 18, 1853, New York City - d. Dec. 19, 1920, New York City), borough president of Manhattan (1904-09). Following an investigation, New York Gov. Charles Evans Hughes denounced his administration as "flagrantly inefficient and wasteful" and ordered him removed from office on Dec. 9, 1907. After a long legal battle, he finally left office in December 1909.

Aherdane, Mahjoubi (b. 1921, Oulmes, Morocco), defense minister of Morocco (1961-64, 1966-67). He was also minister of agriculture (1964-66), posts and telecommunications (1977-81), and cooperation (1981-83). In 1957 he was a founder of the Popular Movement and in 1991 he founded a new party, the National Popular Movement.

B. Ahern

Ahern, Bertie, byname of Bartholomew Patrick Ahern, Irish Parthalán Ó hEachthairn (b. Sept. 12, 1951, Dublin, Ireland), prime minister of Ireland (1997-2008). A member of the Fianna Fáil party, he was elected to the Dáil (lower house of parliament) in 1977 for a constituency in central Dublin. He also served on the Dublin City Council in 1979-91 and was lord mayor in 1986-87. He was appointed an assistant government whip (1980-81) and chief whip (1982). He held various opposition front-bench appointments in the mid-1980s before entering the cabinet as minister for labour (1987-91) on the return of Charles Haughey to government. Ahern's success in establishing general economic agreements with employers, unions, and farmers in 1987 and 1990 and his role in constructing the first Fianna Fáil coalition government (with the Progressive Democrats in 1989) confirmed his reputation as a skillful negotiator. He was made finance minister in 1991. In the contest to choose Haughey's successor (1992), Ahern withdrew in favour of Albert Reynolds, and he remained finance minister under Reynolds. In November 1994, following the fall of the Fianna Fáil-Labour Party government, Reynolds resigned and Ahern succeeded him as party leader, but he failed to become prime minister as the Labour Party at the eleventh hour opted to join a government with Fine Gael and Democratic Left. After the 1997 election, Ahern entered into a minority coalition with the Progressive Democrats. He helped to broker a ceasefire by the Irish Republican Army, and in 1998 he and others (including Britain's Tony Blair and America's George Mitchell) brokered a peace agreement in Northern Ireland. Ahern also increased the republic's influence in Northern Ireland. He was known as the "Teflon Taoiseach" to whom nothing stuck, apart from allegations about his private finances which forced him to step down after 11 years in office.

Ahidjo, Ahmadou (Babatoura) (b. Aug. 24, 1924, Garoua, Cameroon - d. Nov. 30, 1989, Dakar, Senegal), president of Cameroon (1960-82). Entering politics in the French Cameroons, he was first elected to the territorial assembly in 1947 and was its president in 1956-57. In between he was the Cameroon member of the Assembly of the French Union (1953-56). In the first Cameroon government (1957), he was vice premier and minister of the interior; in 1958 he formed a new party, the Cameroonian Union, which favoured continued strong ties with France, and became premier. The more radical Union of the Populations of Cameroon (UPC), which advocated immediate independence, had meanwhile launched a revolt against the French administration. He used French troops to put down the rebels, but he also offered amnesty to those who would surrender. With the Cameroon Republic's independence (1960), he was elected its first president. He persuaded the southern British Cameroons to unite with the Cameroon Republic in 1961 to form the Federal Republic of Cameroon. Reelected in 1965, 1970, 1975, and 1980, he managed to build up a stable, relatively prosperous country. In 1966 he outlawed all political parties but his own. He also successfully suppressed the UPC rebellion, capturing the last important rebel leader in 1970. In 1972 he secured adoption of a new unitary constitution, creating the United Republic of Cameroon, although unitary government was unpopular. He resigned on Nov. 6, 1982, saying he was suffering from "exhaustion." His successor Paul Biya proceeded to oust Ahidjo from chairmanship of the ruling party in 1983. Thereafter he lived in exile in Senegal and France and in 1984 he was, in absentia, condemned to death for complicity in a plot against Biya.

Ahmadinejad, Mahmoud (alternatively Mahmud Ahmadinezhad), original surname Saborjhian (b. Oct. 28, 1956, Garmsar, near Tehran, Iran), president of Iran (2005-13). In 1993-97 he was the first governor-general of the newly-created Ardabil province. He was elected mayor of Tehran in 2003 and got reputation from the merits of improving the traffic condition and stabilizing prices in the sprawling and polluted capital. Due to his background as son of a blacksmith, he led a simple life; it was said that he often took home-made lunch to office and lived in an ordinary flat. As a result, he was enthusiastically supported by people of lower social status in the country. He made all efforts to restore the fundamentalist Islamic law in the country, which made him very unpopular among less religious people. In the 2005 presidential election, he defeated former president Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani in a landslide. He said he was against any compromise on the issue of Iran's nuclear program and relations with the United States. He also faced numerous accusations about his past. The United States said he was a leader in the student movement behind the storming of its embassy in Tehran after the 1979 revolution, and tried to determine whether he was a hostage taker himself, something which he and those who took part denied. Austrian investigators also looked into whether he was involved in the murder of Kurdish dissidents in Vienna in 1989. Again, his aides denied the charges. As president he sparked widespread international condemnation with anti-Israeli comments. In October 2005 he said "the regime occupying Jerusalem must be erased from the annals of history" (which was widely mistranslated as "Israel must be wiped off the map"), followed in December by suggestions that Israel should be moved to Europe and that the Holocaust was a myth. In December 2006 he hosted a conference in Tehran casting doubt on the Holocaust. His reelection in 2009 was disputed and followed by a wave of protests. In 2017 he registered again as a candidate but was not qualified by the Guardian Council.

Ahmed, Abdullahi Yusuf, Somali Cabdillahi Yuusuf Axmed (b. Dec. 15, 1934, Galkayo [now in Puntland], central Somalia - d. March 23, 2012, Dubai, United Arab Emirates), president of Puntland (1998-2001, 2002-04) and of Somalia (2004-08). He was a co-chairman of the National Salvation Council of Somalia formed in 1997.

A.D. Ahmed

Ahmed, Ahmed Dini, Arabic Ahmad Dini Ahmad, Somali Axmed Diini Axmed (b. 1932, Obock, French Somaliland [now Djibouti] - d. Sept. 12, 2004, Djibouti), vice president of the Government Council of French Somaliland (1959-60), interior minister of the French Territory of the Afars and Issas (1967-72), and prime minister of Djibouti (1977-78). He was also minister of production (1963-64) and president of the National Assembly (May-July 1977). Later he became president of the armed faction of the Front for the Restoration of Unity and Democracy (FRUD) which was launched as a rebel movement in 1991 by the Afars (the second largest community living mainly in the northern half of Djibouti); a moderate group reached an agreement with the government (Dec. 26, 1994) but his own troops maintained an armed insurrection. He returned to Djibouti on March 22, 2000, after nine years in exile and a peace deal between the government and FRUD which provided for a cessation of hostilities, a general amnesty for all FRUD fighters in exile, and the liberation of prisoners held by both sides. He led the opposition during Djibouti's first multiparty general election in January 2003. The opposition did not win a single seat in that poll and subsequently denounced electoral fraud.

Ahmed, Fakhruddin (b. May 1, 1940, Munshiganj district, Bengal, India [now in Bangladesh]), chief adviser of Bangladesh (2007-09). He held senior positions in the World Bank from 1978 to 2001 and was governor of the Bangladesh Bank in 2001-05.

Ahmed, Kazi Zafar (b. July 1, 1940, Cheora, Tripura district, Bengal, India [now in Comilla district, Bangladesh] - d. Aug. 27, 2015, Dhaka, Bangladesh), prime minister of Bangladesh (1989-90). A leader of the Bangladesh Jatiya Party, he left Bangladesh for Australia in September 1999 and in his absence was tried for corruption and sentenced to 15 years imprisonment in November 1999. He was arrested when he returned in August 2001, but was released in October. He later lived again in Australia, as a refugee on a disability pension, but returned in February 2004.

Ahmed, Shahabuddin (b. Feb. 1, 1930, Pemoi village, Netrokona district, Bengal, India [now in northern Bangladesh]), president of Bangladesh (1990-91, 1996-2001). He joined Pakistan's civil service in 1954, but switched to the judiciary in 1960. He was appointed a High Court judge on Jan. 20, 1972, two months after former East Pakistan emerged as independent Bangladesh. Ahmed was appointed chief justice of Bangladesh in January 1990, and in December became the country's acting president following the resignation of Pres. Hossain Mohammad Ershad in a stormy opposition-led campaign. Ahmed earned worldwide admiration by holding the country's first free and fair election in 1991, in which Khaleda Zia was elected the country's first woman prime minister. Ahmed returned to the Supreme Court after Abdur Rahman Biswas took over as president on Oct. 8, 1991. He retired from the legal profession in January 1995. Ahmed became president again in 1996, being chosen for the largely ceremonial post in July 1996 by the government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed.

Ahmed, Tajuddin (b. July 23, 1925, Dardaria village, Kapasia thana, Gazipur district, Bengal, India [now in Bangladesh] - d. Nov. 3, 1975, Dacca [now Dhaka], Bangladesh), prime minister of Bangladesh (1971-72). He became a founding member of the East Pakistan Student League on Jan. 4, 1948, and was a leading organizer of the Awami League at its founding on June 23, 1949. In 1954 he was elected to the Legislative Assembly and in 1966 he was made secretary-general of the Awami League. He was arrested on May 8, 1966, and released on Feb. 12, 1969. He became the first prime minister of Bangladesh after independence was declared. He handed over power to Sheikh Mujibur Rahman upon the latter's return from captivity in Pakistan in 1972, and became a simple minister in the cabinet. He stepped down from the cabinet on Oct. 26, 1974. In August 1975, a section of the military assassinated Mujib and arrested Tajuddin. He and three other leaders of the war of independence were killed while in captivity.

Ahmeti, Vilson (Faik) (b. Sept. 5, 1951, Fier, Albania), prime minister of Albania (1991-92). He was also minister of industry (1991) and nutrition (1991). On Aug. 31, 1993, he was sentenced to 2 years' imprisonment, and on July 10, 1995, to 15 years for embezzlement.

Aho

Aho, Esko (Tapani) (b. May 20, 1954, Veteli, Finland), prime minister of Finland (1991-95). A member of parliament since 1983, he became chairman of the Centre Party (KESK) in 1990. In 1991 he was speaker of parliament. Finland's youngest ever prime minister when he took office at the age of 36, he showed stamina by administering painful reforms necessary to weather the economic storm as Finland plunged into the deepest recession in its history. Aho's looks led Finns to dub him "the Kennedy of Kannus," after his home town of Kannus in the northwest. He was a presidential candidate in 2000.

Ahomadegbé

Ahomadegbé(-Tomêtin), Justin (b. Jan. 16, 1917, Abomey, Dahomey [now Benin] - d. March 8, 2002, Cotonou, Benin), vice president, prime minister, interior minister, and defense minister (1964-65) and chairman of the Presidential Council (1972) of Dahomey. He was also president of the Legislative Assembly (1959-60) and minister of social affairs, health, and education (1963-64) and labour (1963-64).

Ahtisaari, Martti (Oiva Kalevi) (b. June 23, 1937, Viipuri, Karelia, Finland [now Vyborg, Russia]), president of Finland (1994-2000). He joined the Foreign Affairs Ministry in 1965 and held various posts in the ministry's Bureau for Technical Cooperation until 1972. He was ambassador to Tanzania in 1973-76, being also accredited to Zambia, Somalia, and Mozambique. In 1977-81 he was United Nations commissioner for Namibia. Thereafter, while serving in Finnish Foreign Ministry posts, he retained the title of special representative of the UN secretary-general for Namibia, and he led the UN's Transition Assistance Group that supervised Namibia's move toward independence in 1989-90. He was a senior UN envoy during the 1992-93 Bosnia and Herzegovina peace talks. In 1994 he became the first directly-elected president of Finland. His vision of Finland as an important player in international affairs, and his image as a political outsider, caught the imagination of an electorate frustrated with career politicians. On June 2, 1999, he and Russian envoy Viktor Chernomyrdin met Yugoslav Pres. Slobodan Milosevic in Belgrade and urged him to accept an agreement to end the conflict in Kosovo, or face continued NATO bombing. The next day Milosevic agreed to the conditions of the accord, which included a joint NATO-Russian peacekeeping force in Kosovo. Ahtisaari's calm insistence that the plan was a one-time-only, take-it-or-leave-it offer forced Milosevic finally to capitulate. Ahtisaari supported Finland's entry into the European Union, which took place Jan. 1, 1995. Also favouring NATO and further expansion of the EU, he often faced opposition by a majority in parliament which preferred a more cautious foreign policy, and by his own party, the Social Democrats. He did not seek reelection in 2000. In 2005 he brokered the peace process in Indonesia's Aceh province and in 2005-07 he mediated talks on the status of Kosovo. In 2008 he won the Nobel Peace Prize.

Ahwoi, Kwamena (b. Oct. 13, 1951, Winneba, Gold Coast [now Ghana]), acting foreign minister of Ghana (1997); brother of Kwesi Ahwoi. He was minister for local government and rural development (1988-2000) and planning and regional economic cooperation and integration (2000-01).

Ahwoi, Kwesi (b. Nov. 17, 1946, Agona Mankrong, Gold Coast [now Ghana]), interior minister of Ghana (2013-14). He has also been minister of food and agriculture (2009-13), high commissioner to South Africa, Swaziland, and Seychelles and ambassador to Comoros (2015- ), and high commissioner to Lesotho (2016- ).

Ait Ahmed, Hocine, Berber Husin At Hmed, Arabic Husayn Ayt Ahmad (b. Aug. 20, 1926, Ain el-Hammam, Kabylie, Algeria - d. Dec. 23, 2015, Lausanne, Switzerland), Algerian politician. He was dubbed the "eternal rebel" for his role in fighting French colonial power since the age of 13. He founded the first opposition party, the secular Socialist Forces Front (FFS), in 1963, one year after independence. He was arrested in 1964 but escaped from jail in 1966 to live in exile in Europe until 1989 when the FFS was registered as a legal party. He also spent six years in prison in France after French authorities arrested him along with four other main National Liberation Front (FLN) leaders in 1956. Ait Ahmed drew most of his supporters from Berber-speaking areas in the mountainous northern regions of Kabylie. He opposed both radical Muslim fundamentalists and the government-dominated military. He went back into exile in 1992 and stepped down as leader of the FFS in 2013.

Akayev, Askar (Akayevich) (b. Nov. 10, 1944, Kyzyl-Bairak village, Kemin district, Kirgiz S.S.R.), president of Kyrgyzstan (1990-2005). From 1987 to 1989 he was vice president of the Kirgiz Academy of Sciences and in 1989-90 its president. On Oct. 27, 1990, the parliament elected Akayev as the president of the Kirgiz Soviet Socialist Republic. At the elections on Oct. 12, 1991, he was elected as the first president of independent Kyrgyzstan. The people confirmed Akayev's powers as president in a national referendum on Jan. 30, 1994. On Dec. 24, 1995, he was reelected for a second term. A technocrat with more democratic instincts than his authoritarian counterparts in the other ex-Soviet states of Central Asia, he won support from international donors by achieving macroeconomic stability and steady growth. On Oct. 29, 2000, he was again reelected. His popularity waned, however, and critics accused him of suppressing the opposition and media, and said his government was mired in corruption. In 2002, his reputation was tarnished after police killed six demonstrators protesting the arrest of an opposition lawmaker. He promised to step down in October 2005, but the opposition believed he wanted to remain in power. Their suspicions were fuelled in February 2003 when Akayev moved to expand presidential powers. Critics also noted that his eldest son, Aydar, and eldest daughter, Bermet, won seats in the February-March 2005 parliamentary election. After that election, protests turned violent in southern Kyrgyzstan, and the opposition effectively seized control of the towns of Jalal-Abad and Osh. The revolution then quickly spread to the capital Bishkek, and Akayev fled the country on March 24. A Kremlin statement of March 27 said that Akayev had asked permission to visit Russia and that his request was granted. He signed a resignation letter in Moscow in April.

Akbaruddin, Syed (b. April 27, 1960), Indian diplomat. He has been permanent representative to the United Nations (2016- ).

Akhromeyev, Sergey (Fyodorovich) (b. May 5, 1923, Vindrey, Russian S.F.S.R. - d. Aug. 24, 1991, Moscow), Soviet military official. He joined the Red Army at age 17, on the eve of Germany's attack on the U.S.S.R. during World War II. By the end of the war he had reached the rank of major and was in command of a tank battalion. After graduating from the Military Academy of Tank Troops (1952), he was placed in command of a tank regiment (1952-60) and then a full division (1960-65). In 1967 he graduated from the Frunze General Staff Academy. Without the experience of commanding any of the Soviet military districts (he became divisional chief of staff but not commander), he was appointed to the post of deputy chief of general staff in 1974. Five years later he won promotion to first deputy. In March 1983 he attained the rank of marshal. A Communist Party member since 1943, he was elected a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in June 1983 and a deputy of the Supreme Soviet in March 1984. On Sept. 6, 1984, it was announced that Akhromeyev had replaced Marshal Nikolay Ogarkov as chief of general staff of the Soviet armed forces. As General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev's personal military adviser, he publicly supported glasnost, but he reportedly remained a hardline militarist and an opponent of reform. On Dec. 7, 1988, the same day Gorbachev announced substantial troop reductions, Akhromeyev resigned from office. He was the second of three Soviet officials to commit suicide in the wake of an unsuccessful takeover of the central government by hardliners in 1991. The others were Interior Minister Boris Pugo, who was one of the leaders of the coup, and Administrator of Affairs Nikolay Ye. Kruchina.

Akhundov, Veli (Yusif ogly) (b. May 13 [April 30, O.S.], 1916, Saray, Baku province, Russia [now in Azerbaijan] - d. 1986, Baku, Azerbaijan S.S.R.), chairman of the Council of Ministers (1958-59) and first secretary of the Communist Party (1959-69) of the Azerbaijan S.S.R. He was also health minister (1954-58).

Akihito

Akihito, original name Akihito Tsugunomiya, era name Heisei ("Achieving Peace") (b. Dec. 23, 1933, Tokyo, Japan), emperor of Japan (1989- ). He was the fifth child and long-awaited first son of Emperor Hirohito and Empress Nagako. In time-honoured imperial fashion, the prince was separated from his parents at about the age of three and raised by nurses, tutors, and chamberlains. Yet in a departure from custom, at six Akihito was sent to school with commoners in order to broaden him. His education included training in the English language and in Western culture. His tutor during the late 1940s was Elizabeth Gray Vining, a Philadelphia Quaker. In 1952 Akihito came of age and was invested as heir to the Chrysanthemum Throne. On April 10, 1959, breaking a 1,500-year-old tradition, he married a non-aristocrat, Michiko Shoda (b. Oct. 20, 1934, Tokyo), who was the daughter of a flour-milling magnate and was a graduate of a Roman Catholic university for women in Tokyo. Their first child, Crown Prince Naruhito Hironomiya, was born on Feb. 23, 1960; he was followed by Prince Fumihito Ayanomiya (later Akishinonomiya) on Nov. 30, 1965, and Princess Sayako Norinomiya on April 18, 1969. Nagako reportedly resented the intrusion of a commoner into the family, and the situation was exacerbated when the couple chose to raise their children at home. In 1986 they stepped further into modernity when they took their first subway ride. Emperor Hirohito became gravely ill on Sept. 19, 1988, and three days later Akihito became de facto regent. He became emperor on Jan. 7, 1989, after the death of his father. As scion of the oldest imperial family in the world, Akihito was, by the traditional account (in which two emperors who reigned twice are counted twice), the 125th emperor of Japan. He was formally enthroned on Nov. 12, 1990.

Akinci, Mustafa (b. Dec. 28, 1947, Limassol, Cyprus), president of North Cyprus (2015- ). He was also mayor of Nicosia Turkish Municipality (1976-90) and deputy prime minister and minister of tourism (1999-2001). He was an unsuccessful presidential candidate in 1995 and 2000.

Aksyonenko, Nikolay (Yemelyanovich) (b. March 15, 1949, Novosibirsk oblast, Russian S.F.S.R. - d. July 20, 2005), first deputy prime minister of Russia (1999-2000). He became railways minister in 1997. He combined this job with the post of first deputy prime minister in the governments of Sergey Stepashin and Vladimir Putin, and was once considered a candidate for prime minister. In January 2002, President Putin fired Aksyonenko after he was charged by prosecutors with abuse of office that resulted in the loss of 70 million rubles ($2.3 million) in government funds. However, he was allowed to leave the country to receive medical treatment.

A. Aksyonov

S. Aksyonov

Aksyonov, Aleksandr (Nikiforovich) (b. Oct. 9, 1924, Vetka rayon, Gomel oblast, Belorussian S.S.R. - d. Sept. 8, 2009), chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Belorussian S.S.R. (1978-83). He was also Belorussian interior minister (1960-66), first secretary of the party committee of Vitebsk oblast (1966-71), and Soviet ambassador to Poland (1983-85) and chairman of the State Committee of Television and Broadcasting (1985-89).

Akufo-Addo, Nana Addo Dankwa (b. March 29, 1944), justice minister (2001-03), foreign minister (2003-07), and president (2017- ) of Ghana; son of Edward Akufo-Addo. He was a presidential candidate in 2008 and 2012 before winning in 2016.

Ala, Hossein (b. December 1882, Iran - d. July 13, 1964, Tehran, Iran), foreign minister (1950) and prime minister (1951, 1955-57) of Iran. He was also minister to the United Kingdom (1934-36), minister of commerce (1937-39), and ambassador to the United States (1945-50).

Alamieyeseigha, Diepreye (Solomon Peter) (b. Nov. 16, 1952, Amassoma [now in Bayelsa state], Nigeria - d. Oct. 10, 2015, Port Harcourt, Rivers, Nigeria), governor of Bayelsa (1999-2005). He was arrested in London on Sept. 15, 2005, charged with three counts of money laundering on September 28, and released on bail on October 13. On November 18 he reportedly took a train from London to Paris and then flew to a port in Cameroon where he took a boat to his hometown. An impeachment process was then started and on December 9 he was removed from office and arrested.

Alarcón (Rivera), Fabián (Ernesto) (b. April 14, 1947, Quito, Ecuador), interim president of Ecuador (1997-98). From August 1995 to February 1997 he was head of the Congress. He then was designated president by Congress following the removal from office of Pres. Abdalá Bucaram, who was ousted by legislators on grounds of "mental incompetence." Alarcón saw the country through to fresh elections in July 1998, handing over power to the winner, Jamil Mahuad, in August. On March 16, 1999, Alarcón was arrested on charges he loaded the state payroll with phantom employees while serving as the head of Congress. After four months in jail he was released on bail on July 23.

Alarcón de Quesada, Ricardo (b. May 21, 1937, Havana, Cuba), foreign minister of Cuba (1992-93). He was also permanent representative to the United Nations (1966-78, 1990-92) and president of the National Assembly (1993-2013).

Alasania, Irakli (b. Dec. 21, 1973, Batumi, Adzhar A.S.S.R., Georgian S.S.R.), prime minister of the pro-Georgian government of Abkhazia (2004-06). In 2006-08 he was Georgia's permanent representative to the United Nations; in 2012-14 he was defense minister.

Alassounouma, Boumbéra (b. Dec. 31, 1942, Niamtougou, Togo - d. June 2, 1995, Lomé, Togo), foreign minister of Togo (1994-95). In 1983-85, he was ambassador to China, North Korea, and Japan; and in 1985-92, to France, Spain, and Italy. He was crushed to death when a 300-kg slab of concrete fell on him while he was supervising construction work on his house.

Albert I, in full Albert Léopold Clément Marie Meinrad (b. April 8, 1875, Brussels - d. Feb. 17, 1934, Marche-les-Dames, near Namur, Belgium), king of Belgium (1909-34). He was a nephew of King Léopold II and at first not considered a possible heir presumptive to the throne. But then Léopold's son died at the age of 10; Albert's older brother, Prince Baudouin, was mysteriously killed; and Albert's father, Philip, count of Flanders, younger brother of the king, renounced his claim to the throne. Albert mingled with the Belgian workers and once went incognito to America, becoming a newspaper reporter in Brooklyn. In 1900 he married Elisabeth, a Bavarian princess. As king, he improved social conditions in Belgium and the Belgian Congo. In 1914, he reaffirmed Belgian neutrality to France and Germany and rejected the German ultimatum of August 2 demanding free passage of German troops across Belgian territory. Two days later, Germany invaded. He assumed leadership of the Belgian army, going up and down the trenches encouraging his soldiers. He was forced to retreat until German troops occupied the entire country except for the southwestern districts of Flanders, where he maintained his headquarters until the end of the war. In September 1918 he commanded the Franco-Belgian northern army group which recaptured the Belgian coast. Eleven days after the Armistice he reentered Brussels to the joyous outbursts of his subjects. He appealed to the Allies to abolish Belgian neutrality and guided the nation's reconstruction effort. He was named financial dictator of Belgium for a period of six months beginning July 15, 1926, during the turbulent period in which the French franc was stabilized. He slipped and fell to his death while rock-climbing.

Albert II

Albert II, in full Albert Félix Humbert Théodore Christian Eugène Marie of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (b. June 6, 1934, Brussels, Belgium), king of Belgium (1993-2013). The second son of King Léopold III and Queen Astrid, Albert entered the Belgian navy in 1953. As the heir to the throne he became a member of the Belgian Senate. He has been president of the Belgian Red Cross since 1958. On July 2, 1959, he married Paola Ruffo di Calabria, a glamorous Italian princess once refused entrance to the Vatican because she was wearing a miniskirt. The couple had three children: Philippe (b. April 15, 1960), Astrid (b. June 5, 1962), and Laurent (b. Oct. 19, 1963). In 1962 he was called upon to serve as honorary chairman of the Belgian Office of Foreign Trade, and in this capacity he led almost 100 economic missions and became an expert on shipping. However, that tenure was tainted by a 1979 kickback scandal involving Belgium's largest conglomerate and the construction of a hospital in Saudi Arabia. During the lengthy reign of his older brother, King Baudouin, the prince acquired a reputation as a jet-setter. He enjoyed fast cars and boats and has been known to challenge the speed limits on his motorcycle. After the childless Baudouin died in 1993, Albert was sworn in as sixth king of the Belgians. Paola then shared the title of queen with Baudouin's widow, Fabiola. Having shown little interest in becoming the king, Albert surprised many when he chose not to abdicate in favour of his elder son, Prince Philippe. Although groomed for the throne, Philippe was thought by some in the government to be less ready than his father to act as head of state for a country troubled by increasing divisiveness between French-speaking Wallonia and Flemish-speaking Flanders. Albert played a major role in ending a political crisis in 2010-11, when the country went for a record 541 days without a regular government. He abdicated in 2013 for age and health reasons.

Albert II

Albert II, in full Albert Alexandre Louis Pierre, Marquis des Baux (b. March 14, 1958, Monaco), prince of Monaco (2005- ). The only son of Prince Rainier III and his wife Grace Kelly, he took part in five Winter Olympics in bobsledding and has headed Monaco's Olympic Committee since 1994. He long remained unmarried, causing such concern that the constitution was revised in 2002 to ensure the continuation of the dynasty, by allowing power to pass from a reigning prince who has no descendants to his siblings. His older sister, Princess Caroline, thus follows him in the line of succession. On March 31, 2005, he assumed the duties of his ailing father, and he succeeded him when he died on April 6; the ceremonial enthronement took place on July 12 (with an additional ceremony on November 19). Earlier in July he had acknowledged that he has an illegitimate child, Alexandre (b. Aug. 24, 2003), with a flight attendant from Togo, Nicole Coste; the child would not be in line to the throne. In June 2006 he acknowledged a second illegitimate child, Jazmin Grace (b. March 4, 1992), by American Tamara Rotolo. In July 2011 he married former Olympic swimmer Charlene Wittstock. On Dec. 10, 2014, she gave birth to twins, Jacques Honoré Rainier (to be heir) and Gabriella Thérèse Marie.

C. Albert

Albert, Carl (Bert) (b. May 10, 1908, McAlester, Okla. - d. Feb. 4, 2000, McAlester, Okla.), speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives (1971-77). He served in the Army during World War II and was discharged as a lieutenant colonel in 1946. That was the year the incumbent congressman from the 3rd District announced that he would not run again. Albert won the Democratic nomination in regular and runoff primaries and went on to win a seat in the 80th Congress in the general election in November. In 1955, then-Speaker Sam Rayburn (Dem., Tex.) brought him into the ranks of the Democratic House leadership, making him whip, or assistant majority leader. Under the almost automatic operation of the seniority system, Albert became majority leader in 1962 and speaker in 1971. Albert was, in the days immediately after the startling resignation of Vice Pres. Spiro T. Agnew (1973), first in line of succession to the presidency. At that time, as he was said to have done throughout his years at the apex of government, he steered a low-key, middle-of-the road course. In 1974, before Nelson Rockefeller became Gerald Ford's vice president, Albert was again next in line for the White House. Another moment in which Albert stood in the spotlight of history came in 1968, when he served as chairman of the tumultuous Democratic National Convention in Chicago. The year 1975 was not a good one for Albert. Ford, an old friend and colleague, kept denouncing Congress while vetoing the bills it passed. When the House failed to override the vetoes, Albert was blamed. House Democrats complained that he did not represent their positions with sufficient vigour. On June 5, 1976, Albert announced his decision to retire from Congress.

Albizu Campos, Pedro (b. Sept. 12, 1891, Tenerias village, Ponce, Puerto Rico - d. April 21, 1965, Hato Rey, Puerto Rico), leader of the Puerto Rican independence movement. Heading the radical Nationalist Party from the early 1930s, he was imprisoned (1937-43) in Atlanta, Ga., for his revolutionary activities. In 1950, when Nationalists tried to assassinate Pres. Harry S. Truman, Albizu Campos was charged with inciting the would-be assassins and jailed once again. In 1954 several party members fired shots in the U.S. House of Representatives, wounding five congressmen, and Albizu Campos, who had been pardoned, was sentenced to life imprisonment. He was pardoned a second time in 1964.

Albright, Madeleine (Korbel),née Marie Jana Körbel (b. May 15, 1937, Prague, Czechoslovakia [now in Czech Republic]), U.S. secretary of state (1997-2001); daughter of Josef Korbel. Following the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia in 1939, her family fled to England. The family returned to Czechoslovakia after World War II, but fled again after the communist coup of 1948. They settled in the United States. She was a coordinator for Democratic Sen. Edmund Muskie's failed 1972 presidential campaign, and in 1976-78 she served as Muskie's chief legislative assistant. In 1978-81 she worked for Zbigniew Brzezinski, Pres. Jimmy Carter's national security advisor. During the subsequent Republican administrations, her Washington, D.C., home was an informal meeting place for prominent Democrats. She acted as an adviser to Democratic presidential candidates Walter Mondale (1984) and Michael Dukakis (1988), but was more successful in 1992, when she endorsed Bill Clinton's candidacy. During the campaign she served as Clinton's senior foreign policy adviser, and after his election he named her ambassador to the United Nations. At the UN she was a forceful promoter of American interests and encouraged increased U.S. participation in UN operations, particularly those with a military component. On Jan. 23, 1997, Albright, known for her tough-mindedness, was sworn in as the first woman to hold the post of U.S. secretary of state. Considerably more hawkish than her predecessor, Warren Christopher, Albright was a strong advocate of the use of U.S. military and political power to accomplish foreign policy goals, stating "My mind-set is Munich. Most of my generation's is Vietnam." (The betrayal of Czechoslovakia at the 1938 Munich Conference proved an enduring influence in her political life.)

Alcântara, Lúcio Gonçalo de (b. May 16, 1943, Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil), governor of Ceará (2003-07). He was also mayor of Fortaleza (1979-82).

Alcántara de T.

Alcántara de Toledo (Silva Mendoza) y Salm-Salm, Pedro, duque del Infantado, duque de Lerma, duque de Pastrana, marqués de Távara, conde de Villada (b. July 20, 1768, Madrid, Spain - d. Nov. 27, 1841, Madrid), Spanish politician. He was president of the Regency of the "Resistance" (1812), president of the Regency (1823), and first secretary of state (1825-26).

Alcántara Herrán (y Zaldúa), Pedro (b. Oct. 19, 1800, Bogotá, New Granada [now Colombia] - d. April 26, 1872), foreign minister (1838-39) and president (1841-45) of New Granada. He was also minister to the United States (1847-49, 1855-60) and Costa Rica (1856-70).

Alckmin

Alckmin, Geraldo (José Rodrigues), Filho (b. Nov. 7, 1952, Pindamonhangaba, São Paulo state, Brazil), governor of São Paulo (2001-06, 2011- ). A member of the Social Democracy Party, he resigned as governor in 2006 to run (unsuccessfully) for the presidency.

Alcoy, Federico Roncali (y Ceruti), conde de (b. May 30, 1806, Cádiz, Spain - d. April 4, 1857, Madrid, Spain), war minister (1846) and prime minister and foreign minister (1852-53) of Spain and governor of Cuba (1848-50). He was given the title conde de Alcoy in 1846.

Alderdice, Frederick C(harles) (b. Nov. 10, 1872, Belfast, Ireland [now in Northern Ireland] - d. Feb. 28, 1936, St. John's, Newfoundland [now in Canada]), prime minister of Newfoundland (1928, 1932-34). In 1924 he was appointed to the Legislative Council. In the summer of 1928 he assumed the office of prime minister following the resignation of his cousin, Walter S. Monroe, from that post. After the defeat of his United Newfoundland Party in the general election of October 1928, Alderdice led the opposition in the House of Assembly until 1932 when he and his United Newfoundland Party were elected to office. Alderdice was to be the last prime minister of Newfoundland before Confederation. Following the election he also took on the portfolios of Minister of Education and Minister of Finance and Customs, holding the latter office only until August 1932. In 1934 responsible government was officially replaced by commission government (no national referendum was ever held on this constitutional change). Alderdice served as Commissioner for Home Affairs and Education in the new Commission of Government until his death.

Aldunate Bascuñán, Santiago (b. Dec. 7, 1857, Santiago, Chile - d. April 17, 1918, Washington, D.C.), war and navy minister (1894) and foreign minister (1906) of Chile. He was also ambassador to the United States (1917-18).

Aldunate Errázuriz, Carlos (b. 1880, Santiago, Chile - d. 19...), foreign minister of Chile (1931). He was also minister of lands and colonization (1931) and ambassador to the Vatican (1937-39).

Aldunate Solar, Carlos (b. May 11, 1856, Santiago, Chile - d. June 14, 1931, Santiago), foreign minister of Chile (1922, 1924-25). He was also president of the Senate (1913-14).

Alebua

Alebua, Ezekiel (b. 1947), foreign minister (1981-82) and prime minister (1986-89) of the Solomon Islands. He was also minister of home affairs and provincial government (1984-85) and agriculture and lands (1985-86). On April 1, 1998, he became premier of Guadalcanal province. On June 1, 2001, he was wounded by assailants with shotguns in an assassination attempt. Police said the motive for the shooting was not known. However, he had antagonized some of his Guadalcanal constituents by not advancing moves to declare the province a state. By 2003 he had been replaced as premier by Waeta Ben Tabusasi. In August 2005 he was arrested and charged with larceny. It was alleged that between January 16 and May 22, 2001, while Guadalcanal premier, he used SI$302,000 of provincial government money for his own private purposes. The money was part of a SI$2.5 million compensation package paid to the provincial government by the Solomons government to be disbursed to relatives of 25 Guadalcanal murder victims who were killed during the country's ethnic tensions. In July 2007 the Central Magistrates Court sentenced him to 3½ years in prison on two counts of embezzlement; six other counts were dismissed.

Alegrett

Alekperov

Alegrett (Ruiz), Sebastián (b. 1942, Caracas, Venezuela - d. Aug. 7, 2002, Lima, Peru), secretary-general of the Andean Community (1997-2002). He was also permanent secretary of the Latin American Economic System (1983-87) and Venezuelan ambassador to Brazil (1990-94) and Colombia (1996-97).

Alekperov, Avaz (Akbar ogly), Azeri Äväz Äkbär oglu Äläkbärov (b. July 23, 1952), finance minister of Azerbaijan (1999-2006). He worked in various administrative jobs involving agricultural projects. From 1981 to 1991, he was deputy head of the economics department in the government before being appointed head of the Social Protection Fund.

Aleksandar I

Aleksandar I (b. Dec. 16 [Dec. 4, O.S.], 1888, Cetinje, Montenegro - d. Oct. 9, 1934, Marseille, France), king of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes (1921-29) and of Yugoslavia (1929-34). He was the second son of Petar I (king of Serbia 1903-18 and king of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes 1918-21) and Zorka of Montenegro. He became crown prince in 1909 when his elder brother Djordje was forced to renounce his right of succession after an exhibition of temper in which he knocked a groom downstairs, injuring him fatally. A distinguished commander in the Balkan Wars of 1912-13, Aleksandar was appointed regent of Serbia by the ailing king Petar (June 24, 1914) and when World War I broke out again took the field at the head of an army. After the war Montenegro united herself with Serbia, and the former Austro-Hungarian provinces of Croatia, Slovenia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina also joined the new state. In 1921 he succeeded his father as king and on June 8, 1922, he married Marie, a daughter of Ferdinand I of Romania. Until the end of 1928 Aleksandar sought to restore harmony among the different nationalities while keeping democratic forms, but in January 1929 he dissolved parliament and established a royal dictatorship. He changed the name of the country to Yugoslavia, outlawed all political parties based on ethnic, religious, or regional distinctions, reorganized the state administratively, and standardized legal systems, school curricula, and national holidays. A new constitution promulgated Sept. 3, 1931, did not materially lessen his power. Aleksandar, who had survived several earlier assassination attempts, was killed by an agent of Croatian separatists while making a state visit to France.

Aleksandar (II)

Aleksandar (II) (b. July 17, 1945, London, England), pretender to the Yugoslav throne. He is the son of King Petar II and Queen Aleksandra, who were in exile in London. The room in Claridge's Hotel where he was born was proclaimed Yugoslav territory by the British government, because by the constitution a king had to be born on Yugoslav soil. Petar, who never abdicated, died in the U.S. in 1970. Aleksandar decided at the time not to take the title of king, but never renounced his dynastic right to the throne. In 1972, he married Princess Maria da Glória of Orléans and Bragança (b. Dec. 13, 1946), of the imperial family of Brazil. They had three children: Petar (b. Feb. 5, 1980, Chicago, Ill.) and the twins Filip and Aleksandar (b. Jan. 15, 1982, Fairfax, Va.). The marriage ended in divorce in 1985, and the same year he married Katarina Batis (b. Nov. 13, 1943, Athens, Greece). In 1991 he first visited Yugoslavia. After Pres. Slobodan Milosevic was overthrown in 2000, the Yugoslav parliament returned some royal assets back to Aleksandar, and since the summer of 2001 he lives in the so-called Old Castle (Stari Dvor) in Belgrade. Today, he is a guest at any important social event, is engaged in charitable activities together with his wife, and the press and officials regularly address him as His Royal Majesty, Heir Apparent, Aleksandar Karadjordjevic. People still feel alienated from him, however, because his Serbian remains very poor.

Aleksandr II

Aleksandr II, in full Aleksandr Nikolayevich (b. April 29 [April 17, O.S.], 1818, Moscow, Russia - d. March 13 [March 1, O.S.], 1881, St. Petersburg, Russia), emperor of Russia (1855-81). He was the eldest son of the grand duke Nikolay Pavlovich (who in 1825 became Emperor Nikolay I) and his wife, Aleksandra Fyodorovna. In 1841 he married Maria of Hesse-Darmstadt. He succeeded to the throne following the death of his father, at the height of the Crimean War. Aleksandr realized that the backwardness of his country was to blame for the defeat in that war, and implemented a series of modernizing reforms, notably the abolition of serfdom by the Emancipation Act of Feb. 19, 1861. Tens of millions of human chattels were given their personal freedom and were endowed with modest allotments of land. The judicial statute of 1864 gave Russia, for the first time, a judicial system that in important respects could stand comparison with those of Western countries. The army statute of 1874 introduced conscription for the first time. He also rethought foreign policy: Russia now refrained from overseas expansion and concentrated on strengthening its borders. In 1867 Alaska was sold to the United States. His greatest foreign policy achievement was the successful war against the Ottoman Empire in 1877-78, resulting in the annulment of the conditions of the Treaty of Paris of 1856, imposed after Russia's defeat in the Crimean War. Beginning in 1879, there was a resurgence of revolutionary terrorism. Following unsuccessful attempts to shoot him, to derail his train, and finally to blow up the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, he was mortally wounded by a bomb thrown by Ignaty Grinevitsky, member of the People's Will revolutionary group.

Aleksandur (Yosif), originally Alexander Joseph Battenberg (b. April 5, 1857, Verona, Venice [Italy] - d. Nov. 17, 1893, Graz, Austria), prince of Bulgaria (1879-86). The second son of Prince Alexander of Hesse and a nephew of Aleksandr II of Russia, he served during 1877 with the Russian forces in the Russo-Turkish War (1877-78), which resulted in the autonomy of Bulgaria. When Bulgaria was made a hereditary principality under the provisions of the Congress of Berlin (1878), he was elected prince on April 29, 1879. He dissolved the national assembly in 1880 and suspended the constitution in 1881. Bulgarian politicians were infuriated, and real power fell into the hands of two Russian generals, Sobolev and Kaulbars, who had been specially despatched from St. Petersburg. To combat this influence he restored the constitution on Sept. 18, 1883. The annexation of Eastern Rumelia by Bulgaria (September 1885) further exacerbated relations with Russia, and passions were also aroused in Serbia. He successfully led Bulgarian troops against a Serbian invasion (November 1885), but Austria intervened and Bulgaria was forced to accept an armistice and a peace confirming the status quo (Treaty of Bucharest, March 1886). His success, however, sealed the union with Eastern Rumelia, which was recognized by the Great Powers in April 1886. A pro-Russian officers' coup on Aug. 21, 1886, forced him to abdicate, and he was conducted out of the country. He returned shortly to reclaim his crown after a counterrevolution overthrew the provisional government set up by the Russian party at Sofia, but he found his position untenable and formally abdicated on Sept. 7, 1886. He later assumed the title Graf von Hartenau (Feb. 6, 1889), became a naturalized Austrian subject, and served in the Austrian Army.

Alemán (Lacayo), (José) Arnoldo (b. Jan. 23, 1946, Managua, Nicaragua), mayor of Managua (1990-95) and president of Nicaragua (1997-2002). He was elected head of the National Assembly on Jan. 17, 2002, but was ousted from that position on Sept. 19, 2002, in a crucial step to try him on charges of stealing $100 million during his presidential term. On Dec. 12, 2002, lawmakers stripped his immunity from prosecution and he was placed under house arrest. He was taken to jail Aug. 11, 2003, but in late November he was released to a house arrest again. On Dec. 7, 2003, he was convicted on corruption charges and sentenced to 20 years imprisonment (later changed to house arrest) and a $10 million fine. He also faced money-laundering charges in the U.S., but under Nicaraguan law he could not be extradited. In January 2009 his 2003 conviction was overturned, and he declared his readiness to run for the presidency again in 2011. In the event, he finished only a distant third.

Alemán (Salvador), Mario (b. March 18, 1935, Quito, Ecuador), Ecuadorian diplomat. He was ambassador to Paraguay (1985-87) and permanent representative to the United Nations (1999-2002).

Miguel Alemán

Alemán (Valdés), Miguel (b. Sept. 29, 1900 [other sources say 1903], Sayula, Veracruz, Mexico - d. May 14, 1983, Mexico City), president of Mexico (1946-52). His career in politics began in 1930, when he was appointed senator from Veracruz. He also served as an appeals court judge and in 1936 was elected governor of Veracruz. In 1940 he resigned to run the successful presidential campaign of Gen. Manuel Ávila Camacho, who rewarded him with the post of minister of interior. Alemán became the official candidate for the presidency on the ticket of the Partido Revolucionario Institucional (Institutional Revolutionary Party) in 1946 and easily defeated Ezequiel Padilla, becoming the first non-military candidate ever to be elected to the presidency. He was an advocate of industrialization and improvements in agriculture. He also directed the construction of major highways and of the University City complex. After he left the presidency, there were allegations of corruption during his administration. From 1961 he served as president of a national tourism council that was formed at his suggestion, and he retained that position until his death. He also had the title of ambassador at large.

Alemán Healy, José Miguel (b. May 8, 1956, Panama City), foreign minister of Panama (1999-2003). He was a presidential candidate in 2004, finishing third with 16.4% of the vote.

Alemann, Roberto T(eodoro) (b. Dec. 22, 1922, Buenos Aires, Argentina), finance minister (1961-62) and economy minister (1981-82) of Argentina. He was also ambassador to the United States (1962-64).

Alesana, Tofilau Eti, original name Aualamalefalelima Alesana (b. June 4, 1924, Vaitogi, Tutuila, American Samoa - d. March 19, 1999, Apia, Samoa), Samoan politician. In 1947 he acquired the talking chief title Va'aelua. In 1957 he entered the Legislative Council and a year later became health minister. Between 1958 and 1960 he was a member of the constitutional committee and signed the convention that set up the Independent State of Western Samoa. In 1979 when he joined Va'ai Kolone to form the Human Rights Protection Party (HRPP), Samoa's first political party, its sole aim was to overthrow Prime Minister Tupuola Efi. In 1982 HRPP won power with Kolone as prime minister. Claims of bribery and corruption against Kolone were proved in court and Efi returned as leader until December 1982 when HRPP managed to defeat the budget and Alesana became prime minister. In 1985 he was forced out of office in a vote of no confidence led by parliamentarians from his own HRPP. They were unhappy about their exclusion from cabinet. He returned to power in the 1988 general elections. He led his party to a win and did not lose a general election since. He dominated power to such an extent that the HRPP eventually held an unprecedented two-thirds majority in the House. His government was frequently accused of corruption with government contracts often going to HRPP ministers and supporters. Alesana introduced universal suffrage to a country where previously only chiefs (matai) were allowed to vote in elections, and in 1991 he extended the term of a government from three years to five. He grimly hung on to office through severe illness for several years until handing over the reins of government in November 1998 to his deputy, Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi, who kept him in the cabinet.

A. Alessandri

Alessandri Palma, Arturo (Fortunato) (b. Dec. 20, 1868, Longaví, Linares province, Chile - d. Aug. 24, 1950, Santiago), president of Chile (1920-24, 1925, 1932-38). He was elected to the Chamber of Deputies from Curicó in 1897 and reelected five times; later he was several times elected to the Senate and held ministerial posts (industry and public works 1898-99, finance 1913, interior 1918). His election as president in 1920 occurred during the severe postwar slump in the nitrate industry, which culminated in prolonged labour troubles. As candidate of a liberal coalition, he heralded a platform of extensive social reform. He conducted a whirlwind campaign which appealed strongly to the middle classes and to labour. The contest was extremely close, and when numerous charges and countercharges of fraud were made, Congress appointed a court to decide the issue. The court gave 177 electoral votes to Alessandri as against 176 to his nearest opponent. In 1924 he lost the support of Congress and in September was forced to accept the supervision of a military junta. After a short while he resigned and left the country. The junta was itself overthrown in January 1925, and he was recalled. He prepared a new constitution, which was adopted by congressional vote. He resigned later that year but became president again in 1932, swept into office on a promise to restore the economic reputation of Chile. His finance minister, Gustavo Ross, succeeded in balancing the budget, but he alienated his former labour and middle-class supporters, who joined the Popular Front. After a railroad strike in 1936, he suspended Congress and declared martial law. In the end he had to ask for dictatorial powers to cope with communism and nazism. While delivering his last annual message to Congress, in May 1938, he was fired upon by a Nazi member, but was not hurt. Later he was president of the Senate (1945-49, 1949-50).

J. Alessandri

Alessandri Rodríguez, Jorge (b. May 19, 1896, Santiago, Chile - d. Aug. 31, 1986, Santiago), president of Chile (1958-64); son of Arturo Alessandri Palma. In 1947-50 he was minister of finance and in this post was responsible for balancing the national budget while avoiding unemployment, eliminating the deficit, and accumulating the first budgetary surplus in 20 years. In 1957 he was elected to the Senate, representing Santiago, and the following year he won the presidential race with the support of the Conservative and Liberal parties. He pledged an austerity budget to return the country to financial stability and launched a public works program that helped absorb the masses of unemployed. Alessandri was a reserved and austere man, who shunned the presidential palace in favour of his apartment. He ran again for the presidency in 1970 but was narrowly defeated by Socialist Salvador Allende. A right-wing conservative, Alessandri initially supported the 1973 military coup that toppled Allende, but in 1980 he withdrew from political life when he could not reach agreement with the military government on a timetable for a return to democracy.

Alexander, Lincoln (MacCauley), byname Linc (b. Jan. 21, 1922, Toronto, Ont. - d. Oct. 19, 2012, Hamilton, Ont.), lieutenant governor of Ontario (1985-91). Born to West Indian immigrants, he served in the Royal Canadian Air Force during World War II. After an unsuccessful bid in 1965, he became, in 1968, the first black member of the Canadian parliament, being elected from Hamilton West, Ontario, for the Progressive Conservative Party. He retained the seat in the next four successive elections. He served his party in the House of Commons as spokesman on such subjects as housing, labour, manpower, unemployment, immigration, and welfare. He was also designated observer to the United Nations (1976, 1978). When the Conservatives formed a government in 1979, Prime Minister Joe Clark appointed him minister of labour in his short-lived cabinet. In 1980 Alexander resigned his parliamentary seat to become chairman of the Ontario Workers' Compensation Board. He received the Man of the Year Award from the Ethnic Press Council of Canada in 1982, and the following year he was made a Commander of the Order of St. John. On Sept. 20, 1985, he was installed as the 24th lieutenant governor of Ontario, thus becoming the first black person to hold a vice-regal office in Canada. His duties as lieutenant governor included summoning and dissolving the provincial legislature, giving assent to legislative bills, and reading the speech from the throne at the opening of each legislative session. During his term in office he gave education and youth-related issues his full attention. In 1992 he received the Order of Ontario and was named a Companion of the Order of Canada. In 1996 he was asked to chair the Canadian Race Relations Foundation.

Alexander of Tunis, Harold (Rupert Leofric George) Alexander, (1st) Earl, also called (1946-52) Viscount Alexander of Tunis, or (1942-46) Sir Harold Alexander (b. Dec. 10, 1891, London, England - d. June 16, 1969, Slough, Buckinghamshire, England), governor general of Canada (1946-52). In 1911 he was commissioned in the Irish Guards. He fought on the western front in World War I and won the Military Cross in 1915. In 1937 he was promoted to major general. In World War II Alexander commanded the British 1st Corps at Dunkirk (1940), where he helped direct the evacuation of 300,000 troops; he was one of the last men to leave the beaches. In Burma (February 1942) he led the fighting retreat of the British forces before the advancing Japanese. In August 1942 Alexander was made British commander-in-chief in the Mediterranean theatre, where German and Italian forces were at el-Alamein and threatening Egypt. He and his chief field commander, Gen. Bernard Montgomery, reorganized British forces and rolled back the enemy across North Africa until the surrender of the Germans in Tunis in May 1943. In February 1943, Alexander was appointed deputy commander-in-chief to Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, and helped drive the Germans from Sicily and southern Italy. In June 1944 he was promoted to field marshal and in November 1944 he became commander-in-chief of all Allied forces in Italy. Shortly after V-E Day he was sent to Greece to help keep that country out of the hands of the Communists. In 1946 he was created a viscount and named governor general of Canada; then in 1952 he received an earldom and returned to London to serve as minister of defense in Winston Churchill's Conservative government until 1954. He was lord lieutenant of London in 1957-66.

B. Alexandre

Alexandre, Boniface (b. July 31, 1936, Ganthier, southeastern Haiti), provisional president of Haiti (2004-06); nephew of Martial Célestin. He became one of the 12 Supreme Court members in 1990 and was appointed chief justice in June 2001. He was honoured for his honesty and high competence in a judicial system fraught with corruption.

Alexandre, Rodolphe (b. Sept. 25, 1953, Cayenne, French Guiana), president of the Regional Council (2010-15) and president (2015- ) of French Guiana. He was also mayor of Cayenne (2008-10).

Alexandru

Alexandru Ioan I, original name Alexandru Ioan Cuza Voievod (b. March 20, 1820, Husi, Moldavia - d. May 15, 1873, Heidelberg [now in Baden-Württemberg], Germany), prince of Romania (1861-66). Son of a lesser Moldavian noble, he participated in revolutionary activities in Moldavia in 1848. When Grigore Ghica (who had secretly supported and sheltered many Moldavian revolutionaries) became Moldavian prince in April 1849, Cuza became involved in Moldavian administration. In 1857 he was elected to the Moldavian assembly (divan ad hoc) and two years later, despite the Great Powers' determination that the Romanian principalities should enjoy separate autonomy, he was successively elected prince of Moldavia (January 1859) and of Walachia (February 1859), bringing about the de facto and, in 1861, actual unification of Romania. He attempted to rule in the plebiscitary manner of the French emperor Napoléon III and openly courted the peasantry as "the state's active force." In 1863 he expropriated the vast lands owned by the monasteries of Moldavia and Walachia, and the following year he enacted a large-scale land-redistribution program (August 1864), which not only provided the peasants with ownership of their own plots but also emancipated them from all manorial services and tithes; the program, however, was only partly successful. Intending to provide universal free and obligatory educational services, the prince built more schools at all levels and introduced a program to award scholarships to poor students. He also introduced electoral and judicial reforms and revised the state structure to enhance his own authority. His policies provoked the opposition of the great landowners and some middle-class elements; in 1866 a group of military conspirators forced him to abdicate and go into exile.

J.-E. Alexis

Alexis, Jacques-Édouard (b. Sept. 21, 1947, Gonaïves, Haiti), prime minister of Haiti (1999-2001, 2006-08). He was education minister and was first nominated for prime minister in July 1998, but was only confirmed by parliament in March 1999.

Alfonsín (Foulkes), Raúl (Ricardo) (b. March 12, 1927, Chascomús, Buenos Aires province, Argentina - d. March 31, 2009, Buenos Aires, Argentina), president of Argentina (1983-89). He became a member of the city council of Chascomús in 1951 and was elected to the Buenos Aires provincial legislature in 1958. In 1963, he was elected to the national parliament. He became provincial president of the Radical Civic Union (UCR) in 1965, but was opposed to the concilitatory attitude toward the military and the Peronists that was adopted by party leader Ricardo Balbín. In 1972 Alfonsín founded the Movement for Renewal and Change within the UCR. He ran for the UCR nomination for the 1973 presidential election but lost to Balbín, who himself lost the election to the Peronists, who were overthrown by the military in 1976. After Argentina's defeat in the Falkland War (1982), the discredited military relinquished control and new presidential elections were held on Oct. 30, 1983. Alfonsín, who had been elected UCR leader in July 1983, defeated his Peronist opponent and became president. His government prosecuted members of the previous military regime for human rights abuses and several high-ranking officials received life prison sentences. He had less success with improving an economy plagued by hyperinflation, a severe national debt, and labour disputes. This paved the way for the victory of the Peronist candidate, Carlos Saúl Menem, in the 1989 presidential elections (Alfonsín himself was constitutionally debarred from seeking reelection). Menem pardoned several of the military officers, a move strongly criticized by Alfonsín. In September 1995 he resigned as UCR leader following the party's poor performance in the May 1995 presidential and congressional elections. He was elected a senator in 2001 but resigned in 2002.

Algabid, Hamid (b. 1941, Belbedji, near Tanout, Niger), prime minister of Niger (1983-88) and secretary-general of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (1989-96). He was also minister of commerce (1981-83) and transport (1982-83) and a presidential candidate (1999, 2004).

Alhaji, Alhaji Abubakar, byname Triple A (b. Nov. 22, 1938, Sokoto, Nigeria), finance minister of Nigeria (1990-92); nephew of Ibrahim Dasuki dan Khaliru (who conferred on him the title Sardauna of Sokoto in 1991). He was also high commissioner to the United Kingdom (1992-96).

Ali, Abdirahman Ahmed (Arabic `Abd al-Rahman Ahmad `Ali, Somali Cabdiraxmaan Axmed Cali), byname Tuur (b. 1931, Hargeysa, British Somaliland [now in Republic of Somaliland] - d. Nov. 8, 2003, London, England), president of Somaliland (1991-93). He was Somalia's ambassador to The Sudan (1964-68, 1970-71), Ethiopia (1972-77), East Germany (1978-81), and the United Arab Emirates (1982-83). After the fall of the Muhammad Siad Barre regime he became the first president of the breakaway Republic of Somaliland, but he denounced Somaliland's independence in 1994. He returned from a long self-imposed exile in February 2003.

A.M. Ali

A.H.M. Ali

Ali (Gaas), Abdiweli Mohamed, Somali Cabdiweli Maxamed Cali (b. July 2, 1965, Dhusamareeb, Somalia), prime minister of Somalia (2011-12) and president of Puntland (2014- ). He was also Somali minister of planning and international cooperation (2010-11). He has dual U.S. and Somali citizenship.

Ali, Abul Hasan Mahmud (b. Feb. 6, 1943, Dinajpur, India [now in Bangladesh]), foreign minister of Bangladesh (2013-14, 2014- ). He was also ambassador to Bhutan (1986-90), Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia (1992-95), and Nepal (1996) and high commissioner to the United Kingdom and ambassador to Ireland (1996-2001).

Alia, Ramiz (Tafë) (b. Oct. 18, 1925, Shkodër, Albania - d. Oct. 7, 2011, Tiranë, Albania), head of state of Albania (1982-92) and first secretary of the Albanian Party of Labour (1985-91). In 1944, he joined the communist-led guerrillas fighting against the retreating German forces. His first position in the communist government that was set up at the end of World War II was that of youth leader. He held that job until 1955, except for a brief stint on the party's propaganda staff in 1948. In the latter year he was also elected a member of the Central Committee. He was named education minister in 1955, and three years later became a full-time party official. He became a candidate member of the Politburo in 1956 and a full member and member of the party secretariat in September 1960. He became titular head of state (chairman of the Presidium of the People's Assembly) in 1982 and effective ruler upon his election as the party's first secretary two days after Enver Hoxha's death in April 1985. He instituted limited economic reforms and relaxed the party's tight grip on society. Student protests forced him to accept a multiparty system in December 1990. In 1991 he gave up the party leadership and in 1992 he resigned as president. He was imprisoned in August 1993, sentenced to 9 years' imprisonment for abuse of power and violation of citizens' rights in July 1994, and released in July 1995. In February 1996 he was rearrested and charged with crimes against humanity. He was awaiting trial when, in March 1997, he took advantage of a wave of unrest to flee from jail in a mass breakout with over 1,000 other prisoners, and left the country. Reportedly, he first went to France and later to Sweden, staying with his daughter. He returned to Albania in December 1997 after the charges against him were dropped.

Alibux

Alibux, (Liakat Ali) Errol (b. Nov. 30, 1948, Paramaribo, Suriname), prime minister and foreign minister of Suriname (1983-84). He has also been minister of social affairs and housing (1980-82), natural resources (1996-2000), and finance (1999-2000) and ambassador to Brazil (1985-86) and Turkey (2013- ). He was sentenced in November 2003 to one year in prison for forgery and overbilling while finance minister; he served eight months in 2004.

Alier, Abel (b. 1933, Bor district, Upper Nile province [now state], Sudan), chairman of the High Executive Council of Southern Sudan (1972-78, 1980-81). He was also Sudanese minister of housing (1969), supply and internal trade (1969-70), and public works (1970-71, 1983-85), minister of state for the South (1971-72), and a vice president (1971-82).

Alimov, Arif (Alimovich) (b. April 26, 1912, Tashkent, Russia [now in Uzbekistan] - d. Oct. 2, 2005, Tashkent), chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Uzbek S.S.R. (1959-61). He was also first secretary of the party committees of Kokand city (1942-43) and Namangan (1946-48), Samarkand (1948-50, 1957-59), Bukhara (1951-52), and Tashkent (1952-56) oblasti and Uzbek minister of cotton (1950-51) and fruits and vegetables (1981-84).

Alimov, Rashid (Kutbudinovich) (b. June 23, 1953, Stalinabad, Tadzhik S.S.R. [now Dushanbe, Tajikistan]), foreign minister of Tajikistan (1992-94) and secretary-general of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (2016- ). He was also permanent representative to the United Nations (1994-2005) and ambassador to China (2005-16).

Aliyev, Heydar (Alirza ogly), also spelled Geidar Aliev, Azeri Heydär Älirza oglu Äliyev (b. May 10, 1923, Nakhichevan - d. Dec. 12, 2003, Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.), president of Azerbaijan (1993-2003). He began his career in the security service in Nakhichevan in 1941; later he worked for the security bodies of the Azerbaijan S.S.R. and in 1967 became chairman of the Azerbaijani KGB. He was first secretary of the Azerbaijan Communist Party in 1969-82. He became a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) in 1971, a candidate member of the Politburo in 1976, and a full member in 1982. Also in 1982, he became first deputy chairman of the U.S.S.R. Council of Ministers. In the shakeup that followed Mikhail Gorbachev's appointment as CPSU general secretary, Aliyev retired from the Politburo and government on grounds of ill health in 1987. In 1990 he returned to Nakhichevan and was elected a member of the Azerbaijani parliament. In 1991 he resigned from the Communist Party and was elected parliamentary leader of Nakhichevan. In June 1993 he was invited to Baku to attend talks in the parliament of the now independent Azerbaijan on the crisis brought about by the actions of rebel army commander Suret Huseynov and his troops. Pres. Abulfez Elchibey offered Aliyev the post of prime minister but Aliyev turned it down. Instead he was elected parliament speaker. When Elchibey left Baku as rebel troops advanced on the capital later that month, Aliyev assumed the powers of president. A presidential election on October 3, with Aliyev capturing 98.8% of the vote, legitimized his position. He won reelection in a 1998 poll which was harshly criticized as unfair, although most observers said he would have won anyway if he had chosen to play fair. He collapsed during a speech in April 2003 and was hospitalized since July 8. He then prepared his son Ilham to succeed him.

I. Aliyev

Aliyev, Ilham (Heydar ogly), Azeri Ilham Heydär oglu Äliyev (b. Dec. 24, 1961, Baku, Azerbaijan S.S.R.), president of Azerbaijan (2003- ); son of Heydar Aliyev. In May 1994 he became first vice president of the state oil company, and in 1995 a member of parliament, holding those posts until 2003. On Aug. 1, 2003, he registered as a presidential candidate for the October 15 election, saying however he would support his father's candidature. It was believed the president planned to transfer power to Ilham, who was his deputy in the leadership of the ruling party. Indeed, on August 4, Ilham was elected prime minister, and as such he would take over as president if his father died. Two days later he took a leave from his new post because the election code of Azerbaijan prohibits a serving prime minister from running for president. On October 2 his father withdrew his candidacy, admitting that his ongoing health problems would prevent him from fulfilling his duties, and endorsed Ilham, who went on to win a large majority in the election, which the opposition claimed was rigged. He was reelected similarly in 2008 and 2013. In 2017 he made his wife Mehriban Aliyeva (b. Aug. 26, 1964, Baku) vice president.

Alkalaj, Sven (b. Nov. 11, 1948, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina), foreign minister of Bosnia and Herzegovina (2007-12). He was ambassador to the United States (1994-2000) and Belgium (2004-07).

Alkatiri

Alkatiri, Mari (bin Amude) (b. Nov. 26, 1949, Dili, Portuguese Timor [now Timor-Leste]), chief minister (2001-02) and prime minister (2002-06) of Timor-Leste. He began working for independence while still at school, mobilizing his friends against the Portuguese colonial regime that ruled East Timor for over 300 years. In 1974, he was part of a group of young activists that established the Revolutionary Front for an Independent East Timor (Fretilin). Shortly after Portugal's withdrawal in 1975, Indonesia invaded and began what would be a bloody, 24-year occupation. Alkatiri left the country to live in exile in Mozambique. In 1999, after East Timor voted overwhelmingly for independence in a UN-sponsored referendum, Alkatiri returned and took up a post as finance minister in the UN administration. He became head of Fretilin, which controls two-thirds of the national assembly elected in August 2001. He was forced from office in 2006 following allegations that he knew about a hit squad to eliminate political rivals.

Alkhanov

Alkhanov, Alu (Dadashevich) (b. Jan. 20, 1957, Kazakh S.S.R.), president of Chechnya (2004-07). He became interior minister of Chechnya on April 18, 2003. He was the Kremlin-backed candidate in the Aug. 29, 2004, presidential elections. His deputy Ruslan Alkhanov took over the interior ministry on June 21 when Alkhanov went on leave and joined the presidential race. The election, which he won by a wide margin, was called undemocratic by international observers. On Feb. 15, 2007, he was dismissed by Pres. Vladimir Putin, after days of speculation that he was engaged in an intense power struggle with Prime Minister Ramzan Kadyrov, who was alleged by human rights groups to be responsible for abductions and detention of civilians and suspected separatist rebels. Kadyrov was believed to completely control law enforcement in the republic and to hold the real power in Chechnya, while Alkhanov was reportedly just a figurehead. His dismissal as president was combined with his appointment as deputy justice minister of Russia; it was said that he had submitted a letter seeking an appointment to Moscow earlier in the month.

Allam, Abdul Qadir (b. October 1919), foreign minister of Libya (1960-61). He was also minister of defense (1956-57), communications (1957-58), and economy (1960).

Allam-mi, Ahmad (b. 1948, Chad), foreign minister of Chad (2005-08). He was also ambassador to France (1983-91, 1993-95) and permanent representative to the United Nations (2008-13). In 2013 he became secretary-general of the Economic Community of Central African States.

Allawi, Iyad (Hashem), Arabic Iyyad (Hashim) `Allawi (b. May 31, 1944, Baghdad, Iraq), president of the Governing Council (2003) and prime minister (2004-05) of Iraq; brother-in-law of Nuri al-Badran; cousin of Ali Allawi. He joined the Ba`th Party underground movement as a young man, but when it came to power, he fell out with the rising strongman Saddam Hussein in the early 1970s and was forced to go into exile. In 1978, while living in the United Kingdom, he was badly wounded in an assassination attempt in London believed to have been ordered by Saddam. He went on to co-found the Iraqi National Accord party in 1990, which from its foundation supported the idea of fostering a coup from within the Iraqi army to overthrow Saddam, but its attempts ended disastrously. He was well-connected politically in Washington and London and after the U.S.-led invasion of 2003 he returned to Iraq and was included in the Governing Council. On May 28, 2004, he was designated by the council to become prime minister after the "handover of sovereignty" on June 30, but he took office already on June 1 when the council decided to dissolve. In 2005, his political bloc won only 40 seats in elections to the 275-member National Assembly and was not included in the new government. He became a vice president in 2014; in 2015 Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi scrapped the three vice-presidential posts, but in 2016 the Supreme Court ruled that decision unconstitutional.

Allen, George F(elix) (b. March 8, 1952, Whittier, Calif.), governor of Virginia (1994-98). In 1982, the Republican was elected to the Virginia Assembly, where he was a conservative backbencher; in a 1991 special election, he won a seat in the U.S. House, which was promptly redistricted out from under him. So he started running for governor. The initial favourite was Attorney General Mary Sue Terry, a moderate from Southside Virginia, who backed some forms of gun control and was pro-choice on abortion. Allen opposed gun control and called for abolishing parole; he is anti-abortion, though thinks states should decide the issue, and for cutting taxes and government spending. Allen manoeuvred smartly to get the support of religious conservatives at the 13,000-delegate June 1993 state convention, one of the largest deliberative bodies in the history of democracy, whose real enthusiasm was reserved for its lieutenant governor nominee, home schooling advocate Michael Farris. Democrats thought gun control and association with the religious right would hurt Republicans. But Allen won by a whopping 58%-41% margin. Allen also proved more successful in office with his agenda than many had expected. His achievements included a more permissive concealed weapons law, abolition of parole, parental notification for abortions, a $163 million incentive package for Disney's northern Virginia theme park (plans which Disney later cancelled), and welfare reform that requires recipients to work after 90 days and cuts off benefits after two years. But in 1995, the legislature rejected Allen's proposed tax cuts, his education initiatives, and most of his prison construction program.

Allen, Ivan, Jr. (b. March 15, 1911, Atlanta, Ga. - d. July 2, 2003, Sandy Springs, Ga.), mayor of Atlanta (1962-70). He became active in the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, and as its president helped negotiate the desegregation of downtown lunch counters in 1961. Earlier, Martin Luther King and student protesters had been arrested trying to eat at a downtown restaurant. Allen desegregated city government the day he took office as mayor. The "colored" and "white" signs were taken down and he hired blacks for many city jobs, including police officer and firefighter. Allen also brought big-time professional sports to the South, luring baseball's Braves from Milwaukee and getting the National Football League to start the Atlanta Falcons. His tenure as mayor coincided with tremendous growth for Atlanta and the surrounding area, with new roads and highways completed around the city. His two terms also coincided with the beginning of white flight to the city's suburbs.

Allen, J.P., mayor of Oklahoma City (1897-99).

Allen, Sir James (b. Feb. 10, 1855, Adelaide, South Australia - d. July 28, 1942, Dunedin, New Zealand), defence minister (1912-20), finance minister (1912-15, 1919-20), and foreign minister (1919-20) of New Zealand; knighted 1917. He was also education minister (1912-15) and high commissioner to the United Kingdom (1920-26).

Allende (Gossens), Salvador (Guillermo)1 (b. June 26, 1908, Valparaíso [or possibly Santiago, where birth registration and baptism took place in July 1908], Chile - d. Sept. 11, 1973, Santiago, Chile), president of Chile (1970-73). He helped found Chile's Socialist Party in 1933, was elected to the Chamber of Deputies in 1937, served as minister of health (1939-42), became leader of the Socialist Party in 1942, and was elected to the Senate in 1945 (of which he was president in 1965-69). He ran four times for president. In 1952 he finished a distant fourth; in 1958 he was a close second to Conservative-Liberal candidate Jorge Alessandri Rodríguez; in 1964 he was decisively defeated by Christian Democrat Eduardo Frei Montalva (by this time the U.S. government was already lending considerable support to Allende's opponents); finally, in 1970, as the candidate of Popular Unity, a bloc of Socialists, Communists, Radicals, and some dissident Christian Democrats, he won a narrow plurality (36%), and his election was confirmed by Congress. In what he called the "Chilean road to socialism" he initiated profound social and economic change while upholding democratic institutions. He nationalized industries, including the U.S.-owned copper multinationals, and pushed extensive land reform. The Chilean people became highly polarized as and instability was further fueled by soaring inflation and widespread shortages, caused in part by a U.S. economic blockade and the undercover activities of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency. Nevertheless Allende retained the support of many workers and peasants; his coalition won 44% of the vote in the March 1973 congressional elections. On Sept. 11, 1973, Allende was overthrown by Gen. Augusto Pinochet Ugarte in a CIA-directed military coup. Official reports said that Allende committed suicide during the coup, though many believe that he was killed.1 In some sources his full name is given as "Salvador Isabelino del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús Allende Gossens"; this appears to be the result of a malicious fabrication.

Alleyne, Sir Brian G(eorge) K(eith) (b. April 28, 1943, Roseau, Dominica), foreign minister of Dominica (1990-95). In 1995-96 he was leader of the Dominica Freedom Party. He was appointed a judge of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court and assigned to Grenada in July 1996. He later served in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and in September 2003 was appointed to the Court of Appeal of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court. In March 2005 he was appointed acting chief justice of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court (the substantive chief justice, Sir Dennis Byron, being on three years leave of absence, serving with the international tribunal in Rwanda). He was knighted in 2007 and retired from the court in April 2008.

Alliot-Marie, Michèle (Yvette Marie-Thérèse),née Marie (b. Sept. 10, 1946, Villeneuve-le-Roi, Seine-et-Oise [now in Val-de-Marne], France), French politician. She was secretary of state for education (1986-88) and minister for youth and sports (1993-95) and on Dec. 4, 1999, was elected chairwoman of the Rally for the Republic, thus becoming the first woman leading a major French political party. In 2002 she became defense minister. She was to be the last president of the RPR, which in 2002 joined with other parties to form the new Union for a Popular Movement (UPM), headed by Alain Juppé. In 2007 she was shifted to the interior ministry, in 2009 to the justice ministry, and in 2010 to the foreign ministry; she resigned in 2011 after a series of scandals over her relations with the overthrown regime of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in Tunisia. She was also mayor of the town of Saint-Jean-de-Luz, near the border with Spain, in 1995-2002.

Allon, Yigal, original surname Paicovitch (b. Oct. 10, 1918, Kfar Tavor, Palestine [now in Israel] - d. Feb. 29, 1980, Afula, Israel), Israeli politician. He was one of the first recruits of the Palmach, the commando strike force of the Haganah, a Zionist military organization representing the majority of the Jews in Palestine after World War I. The Palmach smuggled Jewish survivors from Europe into Palestine in defiance of British restrictions on immigration. During World War II he fought as a volunteer alongside British soldiers against the Vichy French in Lebanon and Syria. He became commander of the Palmach in 1945. Israel proclaimed independence on May 15, 1948, and the Haganah surfaced as the Israeli army. Allon fought major battles against the Arabs on various fronts; pursuing Egyptian forces from the Negev into Sinai, he captured many prisoners of war including Gamal Abdel Nasser, then a junior officer. Allon's refusal to place the Palmach under the Haganah's command earned him the enmity of David Ben-Gurion, the first Israeli prime minister. Allon entered politics in 1955 when he was first elected to the Knesset (parliament) as representative of his own Ahdut ha-Avoda. He served in the cabinets of Ben-Gurion, Levi Eshkol, Golda Meir, and Yitzhak Rabin, being minister of labour (1961-68), immigrant absorption (1968-69), education and culture (1969-74), and foreign affairs (1974-77) and deputy prime minister (1968-77); in 1969 he was acting prime minister after Eshkol's death. He was best known as the architect of the Allon Plan, a peace initiative that he formulated after Israel captured Arab territory in the 1967 Six-Day War. The plan proposed restoring most of the West Bank territory to Jordan while retaining Israeli paramilitary settlements along the Jordan River. The plan was never adopted. Allon's unexpected death occurred while he was seriously being considered for the leadership of the Labour Party.

Almada, Fidélis (Policarpo) Cabral d' (b. Feb. 26, 1929, Mansoa, Portuguese Guinea [now Guinea-Bissau]), foreign minister of Guinea-Bissau (1983-84). He was also minister of justice (1973-83) and education, culture, and sport (1984-89) and minister of state at the presidency (1989-92).

Almagro

Almagro (Lemes), Luis (Leonardo) (b. June 1, 1963, Cerro Chato, Paysandú, Uruguay), foreign minister of Uruguay (2010-15) and secretary-general of the Organization of American States (2015- ). He was ambassador to China in 2007-10.

Almeida, Damião Vaz d' (b. April 28, 1951, Príncipe), president of Príncipe (1995-2002) and prime minister of São Tomé and Príncipe (2004-05). He has also been minister of labour, employment, and solidarity (2002-03, 2003-04) and ambassador to Portugal (2009-12) and Angola (2012- ).

Almeida, João de (b. Oct. 5, 1873, Vila Garcia parish, Guarda municipality, eastern Portugal - d. 1953, Lisbon, Portugal), Portuguese colonial official. He was minister of colonies briefly in 1926 and in the same year was appointed governor of Cape Verde, but did not take up that post.

Almirante, Giorgio (b. June 27, 1914, Salsomaggiore, Emilia-Romagna, Italy - d. May 22, 1988, Rome, Italy), Italian politician. During World War II Almirante served in the Army in North Africa as war correspondent for the Fascist daily Il Tevere ("The Tiber"). In 1943 he joined the Ministry of Culture in the Italian Social Republic, Benito Mussolini's last government in northern Italy. Almirante came out of hiding after World War II when a 1946 amnesty for minor Fascist officials was announced. In 1948 he was a founder of the right-wing Italian Social Movement (MSI) and became its secretary-general. The same year he also was elected to the Chamber of Deputies (lower house). He was ousted as secretary-general of the MSI in 1950, but he reclaimed control in 1969. The Chamber of Deputies suspended Almirante's parliamentary immunity in 1979 and charged him with reviving the outlawed Fascist Party; he escaped prosecution when he was promptly reelected to Parliament, and the immunity-lifting process had to begin again. He was twice accused of aiding right-wing terrorists (1981 and 1984), but the charges were dropped in a 1987 general amnesty. Almirante's low-key style brought respectability to the neo-Fascist party, which remained Italy's fourth largest party with 5.9% in the 1987 election. He relinquished control of the MSI in December 1987 and died two days after his frequent rival Pino Romualdi, another founding MSI member and editor of the party newspaper. They were buried together in an openly Fascist funeral that was broadcast live on national television.

Almond, Lincoln C(arter) (b. June 16, 1936, Pawtucket, R.I.), governor of Rhode Island (1995-2003). The Republican got involved in local government in Lincoln in 1963, at 26. He ran for Congress in 1968 and lost, then served as U.S. Attorney from 1969 to 1977, ran for governor in 1978 and lost, and was U.S. Attorney again from 1981 to 1993. He ran for governor again in 1994, and this time won. It was an upset not only in the general but in the primary, for 1st District Congressman Ron Machtley was the favourite, leading incumbent Democrat Bruce Sundlun 61%-20% in one poll and Almond 63%-28% in another. But Almond rallied more party support and won the primary 58%-42%. Meanwhile, Sundlun, who had been unpopular since his first-term tax increases and had only won his 1992 primary by 52%-48% over Warwick Mayor Frank Flaherty, fell before liberal state Senator Myrth York by a humiliating 57%-27% margin. In the general election, the two disagreed on casino gambling; Almond was totally opposed, York said it was up to the people; curiously, the Mashantucket Pequot's Foxwoods casino in Connecticut has become a major employer of Rhode Islanders. Ultimately, Almond won by the narrow margin of 47%-44%. This was the first time Rhode Island has elected a governor to a four-year term, with a two-term limit. Almond attracted national attention in May 1995 when he signed into law a comprehensive gay rights bill banning discrimination towards homosexuals in housing, employment, credit, and public accommodation. He was reelected in 1998, again defeating York, this time 51%-42%.

Almunia

Almunia (Amman), (José) Joaquín (b. June 17, 1948, Bilbao, Spain), Spanish politician. He joined the Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) in the early 1970s when Felipe González was still in exile waiting for the fall of Gen. Francisco Franco's military dictatorship. With Franco dead, the Socialist party returned to Spain with González at the helm, and Almunia became a parliamentary deputy for Madrid in 1979. Almunia went on to serve as labour minister and later minister of public administration in the first Socialist administration. Almunia later became a prominent figure in the party as its parliamentary spokesman. So it was no surprise when he found himself launched into a leadership battle when González announced in 1997 that he was stepping down and called for a "change of generations" in the Socialist hierarchy. After winning overwhelming approval from party members, Almunia declared the party more united than ever and pledged to return the Socialists to power in Spain as Lionel Jospin and Tony Blair have in France and Britain. But when asked if his leadership approach would be akin to Jospin or Blair, he made clear he had his own ideas. "My name is Almunia, of Arab origin, but unmistakenly Spanish," he said brusquely. He never matched González's stature and when he lost the 2000 elections he immediately announced that he would step aside as party leader. In 2004-14 he was a European commissioner.

Alois

Alois (Philipp Maria) (b. June 11, 1968, Zürich, Switzerland), heir apparent of Liechtenstein; son of Prince Hans-Adam II. He took over executive authority in 2004.

Alphand, Hervé (b. May 31, 1907, Paris, France - d. Jan. 13, 1994, Paris), French diplomat. He was permanent representative to the United Nations (1955-56) and ambassador to the United States (1956-65).

Altgeld, John Peter (b. Dec. 30, 1847, Niederselters, Prussia [now in Hessen, Germany] - d. March 12, 1902, Joliet, Ill., U.S.), governor of Illinois (1893-97). A member of the Democratic Party, he developed a reputation for protecting the rights of the poor and in 1874 was elected district attorney of Andrew County, Missouri. He resigned this post after a year and moved to Chicago, Ill., where he wrote Our Penal Machinery and Its Victims (1884), arguing that the U.S. criminal system favoured the rich. He was elected to the superior court of Cook County (1886-91) and in 1892 was elected governor with farm and labour support. He embarked on an ambitious program of social reform, including child labour legislation and the inspection of factories. In 1893 he was asked to review the sentences of the three living prisoners (four had been hanged) convicted after the Haymarket Riot, a labour protest meeting in which seven Chicago policemen were killed at Haymarket Square on May 4, 1886. Studying the case, Altgeld concluded that the judge was prejudiced, the jury packed, and the evidence flimsy, and he issued a pardon for the survivors. His decision was hailed by labour leaders but evoked an outcry by both business and the conservative press, which branded the governor as a friend to anarchists. He also introduced a law prohibiting discrimination against trade union members. In 1894, during the Pullman Strike, he refused to send in troops against the striking railway workers. Pres. Grover Cleveland sent in federal troops, and Altgeld's protest against this violation of state's rights produced further vitriolic attacks. In 1896 he was defeated for reelection by the Republican candidate, and a run for mayor of Chicago in 1899 also ended in failure.

Alva, Leonel Mário d' (b. 1935), prime minister (1974-75), foreign minister (1975-78), and interim president (1991) of São Tomé and Príncipe. He was also president of the National People's Assembly (1975-80) and National Assembly (1991-94) and minister of education and sport (1978-80).

Alva Castro, Luis (Juan) (b. Feb. 17, 1942, Trujillo, Peru), prime minister and economy and finance minister (1985-87) and interior minister (2007-08) of Peru. He was also second vice president (1985-90), president of the Chamber of Deputies (1987-88), presidential candidate (1990), and president of Congress (2009-10).

Alvarado Correa, José Antonio (b. 1951, Granada, Nicaragua), interior minister (1997-98) and defense minister (1999-2000) of Nicaragua. He was also minister of education, culture, and sports (1998-99) and health (2003-04) and president of the Central American Parliament (2015-16).

Alvarado Garaicoa, Teodoro (b. 1903 - d. Dec. 27, 1973), foreign minister of Ecuador (1952-53). He was also ambassador to the U.S. (1956).

Álvarez (Hurtado), Juan (Nepomuceno) (b. Jan. 27, 1790, Santa María de la Concepción Atoyac [now Atoyac de Álvarez, Guerrero], Mexico - d. Aug. 21, 1867, La Providencia ranch, Acapulco, Guerrero), provisional president of Mexico (1855-56). In 1810 he began his military career with José María Morelos and fought indefatigably for independence from Spain. He was in favour of a federalist and liberal republic and was prominent in Antonio López de Santa Anna's revolt of 1822-23, which overthrew the first ruler of independent Mexico, Agustín de Iturbide. In 1847 Álvarez fought in the war against the United States. On Oct. 27, 1849, he was named temporary governor of the new state of Guerrero, and was confirmed in elections in 1850. When Santa Anna reestablished his dictatorship in 1853, the liberal Álvarez accommodated himself to this situation as long as his hegemony in Guerrero was not threatened. In 1854, when Santa Anna tried to secure direct rule over Guerrero, Álvarez started the Revolution of Ayutla, and Santa Anna was sent into exile. Álvarez assumed control of the government, but soon resigned in favour of Ignacio Comonfort, his ally against Santa Anna. The work of Álvarez and Comonfort resulted in the liberal trend known as La Reforma ("The Reform") and in the constitution of 1857.

Álvarez-Cascos (Fernández), Francisco (b. Oct. 1, 1947, Madrid, Spain), first deputy prime minister of Spain (1996-2000) and president of the government of Asturias (2011-12). He was also minister of development (2000-04).

Álvarez Grau, Vladimiro, interior minister of Ecuador (1983-84, 1999-2000). He was also minister of labour and human resources (1981-83) and education and culture (1998-99) and a minor presidential candidate (1992).

Alvear (Pacheco), (Máximo) Marcelo T(orcuato) de (b. Oct. 4, 1868, Buenos Aires, Argentina - d. March 23, 1942, Buenos Aires), president of Argentina (1922-28). He was a co-founder in 1890 of the Radical Civic Union (UCR) and took part in revolutions of 1890, 1893, and 1905 that helped to establish liberal democracy in Argentina; he then served as minister of public works in 1911, as a member of Parliament in 1912-17, and as ambassador to France in 1917-22. In 1922 Hipólito Irigoyen, the UCR leader and president of Argentina, designated Alvear as his successor. Alvear secured enactment of some reforms, especially agricultural measures, but largely because of a split with Irigoyen his administration, on the whole, accomplished little. In 1928, he founded the Antipersonalist Union Party and formed an alliance with many conservatives. Irigoyen regained the presidency in the 1928 elections but was overthrown in a military coup in 1930. Alvear then rejoined the UCR. In 1931 he was declared ineligible to run for president because less than a full term had expired since he left office. In 1934 he was exiled in Europe for nine months after an unsuccessful revolt which the government blamed on the UCR. In 1937 he ran again for president but was defeated by Roberto M. Ortiz.

S. Alvear

Alvear Valenzuela, (María) Soledad (b. Sept. 17, 1950, Santiago, Chile), foreign minister of Chile (2000-04). In 1994-99 she was justice minister. Representing the Christian Democratic Party, she was a front-runner for the centre-left Concertación coalition's nomination for the December 2005 presidential election, but withdrew in May 2005, throwing her weight behind her former rival Michelle Bachelet.

Alves, Garibaldi, Filho (b. Feb. 4, 1947, Natal, Brazil), governor of Rio Grande do Norte (1995-2002). He was also mayor of Natal (1986-88), president of the Federal Senate (2007-09), and minister of social welfare (2011-15).

Alwis, (Maha Amarasinghage) Anandatissa de (b. Aug. 21, 1919 - d. August 1996), governor of North Western province, Sri Lanka (1994-95). He was also speaker of the National State Assembly (1977-78) and minister of information (1988-89).